As Bayern Munich prepare to face Dortmund in this season’s second Klassiker, Harry Kane has opened up about the dangers BVB pose and why Bayern can beat them.
As Bayern approach this season’s finish line sitting pretty at the top of the table, there aren’t too many hurdles left to jump before they add another Bundesliga trophy to their cabinet.
One of those remaining obstacles is rather large, however, and takes the form of fierce rivals Dortmund. In their encounter at the Signal Iduna Park earlier this season the honours were even, and Bayern were not only frustrated by the result, but also by the injury to the clinical Kane after half an hour.
The England captain is fit and firing ahead of their Matchday 29 clash though, and is prepared for a tough test against Niko Kovač’s side:
“I think they’d always be a dangerous team. I think they have a lot of quality players. Obviously, with the new coach [Kovač] now as well, they seem to have picked up a little bit and are still in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League as well. So we know on their day, they can be really dangerous and can hurt any opposition. So we have to be ready for that.”
This time around, the Bavarians will have the home advantage, and will hope to capitalise on that in their quest for all three points rather than one. That will be easier said than done, as the last meeting between these two at the Allianz Arena ended in a 2-0 win for Dortmund, with Karim Adeyemi and Julian Ryerson firing the Black-Yellows to victory. Current Bundesliga top scorer Kane is aware of the task that faces them in Munich but is, as ever, in a determined mood:
“Being at home at the Allianz, we need to try and use that. Like every other game, we’ll prepare well. Obviously, it’s stuck in between two big Champions League games as well, but it’s the same for them. So, again, we have to get on with that and just go out like we have in every other game: try and dominate and try and play with a high intensity and in the end, try and be too much for the opposition. That won’t change against them. We know it’ll be tough, but we have to go out with no fear.”
Despite that loss at home last season, and the draw earlier in this campaign, Bayern have won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two and should therefore be full of confidence. That said, while Dortmund have struggled for form domestically this season, they have shown their ability to put in big performances and get results against strong opposition. This is where Kane feels one of their strengths lies – in the size of the fixture, and he explains why:
“Well, I think it maybe suits their profile of player a little bit and just their style of play. There’s teams sometimes in the Bundesliga who drop [back] and make it difficult to break down, and we’ve experienced that as well. They’re not always easy because on the counter-attack, they can be dangerous.”
Their ability to win big games has been showcased in this season’s Champions League campaign where they, alongside Bayern, have reached the quarter-finals, where they face Hansi Flick’s Barcelona.
Over the course of the four games in the play-off round and the last 16, against Sporting Lisbon and Lille respectively, Kovač’s men conceded just twice and scored six, form that certainly caught the eye of the England captain:
“Like I said, they’re a top team because of the players they have. You see that in the Champions League especially. We have to be careful. We have to be careful in every game because it’s tight there at the top. If we can win that game, it’ll be a huge step towards the success that we want.”
As Kane already mentioned, this tie will be sandwiched in between Dortmund’s two-legged tie with Barcelona, and likewise their own quarter-final against Inter Milan. Bayern beat reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen to set up their meeting with Simone Inzaghi’s men, and they did so in ruthless fashion. After two legs the score read 5-0 for Bayern, with Leverkusen’s attacking brilliance blunted by clinical and resolute performances from Kane and Co.
Such displays, carried out even in the absence of key men such as Manuel Neuer, will provide Vincent Kompany’s side with added confidence, especially in light of their current injury crisis. Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, Dayot Upamecano and Hiroki Ito have since joined the Bayern captain in the treatment room, making this Klassiker that little bit more difficult.
There aren’t many challenges that have been too big for Bayern this season but, as proven on Matchday 12, Dortmund are one they’re yet to overcome, setting up an enticing clash in the final straight of the 2024/25 campaign.
